Jacomijn Schellevis is a visual artist working with installation, sculpture and imprints on paper and textile. She is fascinated by the rhythm of nature, its cycles of increase and decline, and the myths that are associated with them. Her work examines how symbols and rituals give meaning to our life, our death and our relationship with the natural world.
In her 2-dimentional work, Schellevis goes through her own ritualistic process by printing onto paper & textile the bodies of animals who have been hit on the side of the road. 3-dimentionally she makes a mold and slip casts them. The result, are visual gestures intended to preserve beauty and strength. Trees, also seen throughout her work, are another symbol of strength. Traditionally trees have also symbolized fertility and the connection between people and their gods.
The materials Schellevis chooses to work with also have significance through their very nature. Wax, branches, sugar, blood, dead animals, ceramics and her own hair have all come to be through various cycles of life.
Schellevis has worked on projects throughout the Netherlands, as well as in Mexico and the United States. In her project 'Origin-Oorsprong' she placed ephemeral installations within the landscape of burial mounds, commenting on local myths surrounding the excavation of these sites. Further away, her interests took her to Mexico to research Dia de los Muertos, (Day of the dead). The result was a series of work, based on local symbols and ritual places, using wax, copal and ceramics. In the United States Schellevis collaborated with Skudlarczyk, making installations within the oldest cemetery in the city of Portland and commenting on modern day burial traditions and rituals. These installations were made of sugar dna strands and salt.
For her commissioned art she uses her themes in a wider context.
In her art projects for schools nature and 'the fun of creating' are her topics.
